Released to the wild
Late July heralded Evie's official arrival into the world (though she'd been with me far longer!). The launch, held in the beautiful...
Evie on the brink
​ Launching a new book is an exciting thing, a beginning but also an ending. It marks the moment when the job is truly complete, and...
Evie on the loose
Evie is 18 and eager to tell you her story. Astonishing to think she was born in both 1897 and 2011 (when I first began thinking about...
Bad weeks and good days
You know it's a bad week when the courier loses your corrected page proofs two days from final sign-off, when material for a magazine you...
Juggling
A month of dedicated writing time disappears more quickly than you can imagine. But not without trace: 50,000 words, thousands of...
Day 18
Three cock pheasants fighting at the edge of the woods beyond my door. They leap at one another then wander about quite contentedly, so I...
Half the World
Villa Hellebos, my home for the next month, is peaceful, comfortable, charming. And - most important - it really does deliver time and...
In praise of writing residencies
Last week my hard drive died, suddenly and inexplicably, leaving gaping holes in my backed up data. Turns out you don't know what you're...
